Independence Day
by sissybear
Summary: Jack's thoughts before, during, and after a fireworks display. use ur imagination AU, Future, doesn't matter it's up to you. Complete, and i've now reposted it bc i forgot to point something out and someone pointed it out for me, thanks!


Disclaimer: i don't own a thing, never have and i never will. simple as that.

_**REPOST! Okay someone pointed this out to me, and I totally meant to mention it, but the whole British hating the date thing is just Jack's musings, it in no way reflects what I think about them or how I think they would feel about it. Thank you!**_

_A/N: Okay woulda had this up yesterday, except, i spent the whole day helping at our local park and driving my friend and her bf around. anyway, late happy fourth for those of you who celebrate it. This story could be future, AU, anything you wish to imagine it to be, it just popped into my head and wouldn't get out until i wrote it. Thanks for reading. _

**Independence Day**

Independence Day. July 4th. The day that Americans love, the British hate, and the rest of the world just doesn't get. To the rest of the world it's a just another day, like every other day on the calendar.

My children love the fireworks and the barbeques, but what they love the most is the story behind Independence Day. The weapons used in the Revolutionary War always seem so ancient to them. They're so used to hearing Uncle Teal'c's stories of other planets, that the story of farmers and merchants winning their independence from the powerful king using antique weapons and minimal numbers fascinates most of them.

They've been surrounded by advanced technology their entire lives. Zat guns, staff weapons, shock grenades, naquada reactors. Hell, half the stuff their mother would bring home to work on would put the top research facilities in the world to shame. Most people are fascinated by advanced technology. Our kids love the stuff from hundreds of years ago. Too much time spent at Uncle Danny's if you ask me.

When Sam and I were first married, we took a few weeks and traveled across the U.S., mostly to places we'd never been stationed, or areas that didn't have Air Force bases anywhere near them. We ended up spending the Fourth of July holiday in Upstate New York.

Highland Park in the Town of Union has the best Fourth of July display we've ever seen. We decided to spend the money and travel to New York every July 4th from then on, only this year we missed it. For the first time in seven years we didn't make it. Taylor was even born in New York on our vacation.

This year was different, though. This year we weren't celebrating our independence, we were fighting for it. I know Sam hated watching me go through the Gate without her. I hated going without her, but we couldn't both go. If something happened our kids would have no where to go. That's not exactly true, there're plenty of people who would willingly take them in, but we didn't want to leave them without their parents.

The System Lords finally banded together to try to get rid of us meddlesome Tau'ri. They obviously don't understand the will of a people fighting for freedom. The Jaffa fight because they are forced to; the Tau'ri fight because we can't stand what it would mean to lose.

They made a fatal mistake. We tried, at one point, to destroy them during Summit, but being millions of light years from home, and in the middle of space, sorta hampered the success of _that_ mission. No, this time they landed on the planet. One without a Stargate granted, but they were still on the surface.

Jacob flew SG-1 and five other SG teams onto the planet in the cargo ship so we wouldn't be detected. Stealth operations allowed us to take out most of the guards outside, while the Tok'ra took out the scout ships orbiting the planet. It was truly sad how easy it was to set the claymores around the ships and take out the majority of the ruling System Lords.

Unfortunately, plan A never works like you expect and a few motherships were hiding out in orbit. It's still pretty blurry how we got to the ships and ended up orbiting Earth. Mostly I was thinking about Sam and the kids the entire trip. July 1st was Taylor's first birthday and I was in the middle of space trying to make sure he saw his second.

Three motherships were getting ready to take out Earth. Ringing onto the ships was pretty easy; too easy, but the Goa'uld have gotten pretty cocky lately. They underestimated us, and had most of their Jaffa centered on the attack on Earth. There were so few guards we easily made it into the engine rooms to blow them up, and used the rings to get back to the cargo ship.

At 0330 on July 4th, three blazing lights in the night sky signified exactly what we'd been up to. It had been so close, the project had been declassified and exposed to the public. Any amateur with a telescope could easily see the ships in orbit and watch them explode.

The Fourth of July is no longer an American holiday. It now stands for independence for the entire world. Every country now knows about the Stargate. It'll be difficult deciding how to delegate the powers controlling the Gate, and I know we'll be stuck in limbo for a while, but it's worth it. Sitting here with my family is well worth it.

We may not be at the park like usual, but the kids don't really care. They just want to see the fireworks. And I'm just glad we all made it home to spend this time with our families.

"Daddy?" I look to my left, where my three oldest boys have managed to position themselves on the blanket we spread out in the backyard. Jake's the one who spoke up. He's always the most vocal. My theory is, the rest of them have taken so long to learn to speak because he won't let them get a word in edgewise.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Does this mean that I can tell people what you do now?"

I smile down at him and ruffle his hair with my free hand. "Yeah. Just don't tell anybody about Grandpa Jake, or Uncle Teal'c. There are people out there who would like to hurt them."

Ian and Anthony aren't really paying attention, they're letting the lightning bugs land on their hands. The wonder in their eyes reminds me of Charlie at their ages.

"Daddy, look!" Ian holds up his hands, lightning bugs covering every finger. Five, the perfect age of wonder.

"Make sure you don't squish them." Oh shit. Anthony heard me. He looks up at me with an evil grin. _Clap!_ Yep, the slow ones didn't get away.

"Daddy! Anky killed 'em!" Kayli turns in my lap and starts crying on my shoulder. I can't do anything except kiss her forehead and rub her back with my free hand. "Shh, baby. It's okay."

"Anky bad!" Joey stands up and toddles over to Anthony. I can tell he's about to hit him, so I have to let go of Kayli for a minute.

"No, Joey. Don't hit." He flops down next to me and lays his head on my knee. I can tell they've all missed me, I've missed them like Hell. I hate going away. I hate leaving them. I hate leaving Sam.

"Ay-yee!" Taylor starts bouncing on my lap and clapping his hands. He thinks this is all fun. He doesn't realize we missed his birthday, or that I almost didn't come home again.

"Okay guys, calm down, the fireworks are just about to start." I pull my little girl close to me. She's the only one I've ever had. I know how to handle boys, they're great. But Kayli's Daddy's little girl. I love all my kids the same, I could never be unfair like that, but there's just a different connection with Kayli and me.

I feel a soft hand rest on my shoulder and instinctively know it's Sam finally coming outside to join us. She sits down on my right and wraps an arm around me, giving Taylor a kiss on the top of the head. We never planned on having so many kids, but it's wonderful. When Kayli came along, we thought maybe we'd be overwhelmed with having three other children. Joey and Taylor didn't hamper us either. Our system is infallible and our house is run so smoothly, General Hammond has often sat back after a barbeque and watches us with a smile on his face. Daniel just laughs at us.

"Hey," I whisper gently in her ear, leaning into her arms.

"Hey back." She nuzzles my neck and I smile back at her. I concentrated on getting home to her and our kids. That was the only thing on my mind. I instinctively went through all the moves to defeat the Goa'uld, but all I could think of was getting back to my family.

The first firework booms and I feel Kayli immediately jump closer to my chest. I smile at her and hold her tighter, letting her know her daddy's here to make sure she stays safe. Joey toddles over to Sam's lap and wraps himself in her embrace. Kayli's really the only one who's ever been scared of the loud noises, but she loves the colors.

All too soon the display's over. We sit outside, quietly enjoying the closeness of our family. It'd be better to have the rest of our family out here with us, but after all we've been through, everyone wants to hold their families tight tonight, like I am.

Before we know it, Jake and Ian are off running around, chasing the last of the lightning bugs and the rest of the children are asleep. Sam pulls me just a little bit closer, bringing my ear down to her level.

"I'm so glad you came home safe." Her whisper tickles my neck and I smile, leaning back into her.

"So am I."

"I would have hated trying to raise seven kids on my own, even though the guys would have offered to help."

_Seven?_ One, two, three, four, five, six. Six. We have six kids… oh. _OH!_

"You're?"

"Yep!" I'm not quite sure how I should react, until I turn around and see the huge ass grin she's sporting.

I lean back give her the best damn kiss I can muster. Not only am I home safe, with my family, and it's getting bigger. Life couldn't be better. We may not be in New York this year, but the Earth is free from Snakeheads, we're all safe, and there's gonna be another little O'Neill running around. This is definitely the best damn Fourth of July ever!

_A/N: Okay, hope you all liked it! Highland park is a real park in Endwell, NY and has THE best fireworks show ever. Young Explosives and Charlie Hill try to make each year better than the last. well, i am working on my other stories, i'm just stuck right now, sorry. but i really am trying hard. please leave reviews, i love hearing it, even if you hated the story._


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